The Endless Argument (Approaching the Point of No Return)
by MindYourMind
Summary: While still in hiding with Orochimaru, Sasuke seeks Naruto out for mysterious reasons. Naruto insists on bringing Sasuke back to Konoha for reasons not mysterious at all. (Strong overtones of Sasu/Naru.)
1. Chapter 1

Soaring from tree limb to tree limb, Naruto crossed off the events of the day. Slowly, he emptied his mind of everything lingering within him.

The mission of escorting a wayward girl back to her family was complete. Disagreements were smoothed, everyone was satisfied, the fees were collected, and he was trailing Sakura and Yamato back to Konoha. The forest seemed to sing in time with the birds in their midst, and Naruto could swear the scents grew fresher as he drew closer to home.

The thought of home brought the image of little Yukimaru's face before him. It had only been a few weeks since they said their farewells, but it seemed like an eternity. He was glad the tyke had somebody to go home to, but still, Naruto wanted to show Yukimaru around Konoha. But that wasn't to be. Yukimaru was happy where he was with Guren, somewhere safe and free of any ninja seeking to manipulate either of them.

Finally, all Naruto's thoughts ran their course, and nothing else came to mind.

He felt at peace, in the sort of way he knew Jiraiya had often wished everyone could feel.

_It would be nice to feel like this all the time, dattebayo_, he thought.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked far ahead and saw Sakura glancing over her shoulder at him, pink hair flapping like a flag in a child's hand.

"Hurry!" she shouted back. Naruto could almost feel her words flicking his face, like a scolding wind. "You're falling too far behind! Don't make me drag you!"

"Ah, _ne_, _ne_ _ne_! Don't disturb yourself, Sakura-chan! I'll catch up!" Naruto promised. He took a few big leaps to narrow the gap between him and Sakura, which had grown very wide, even by his own standards.

Yamato, leading a few paces ahead of Sakura, pretended to hear nothing and no one. Naruto snickered and assumed he was bracing for a mock ambush, ANBU-style. He often acted as if Kakashi - or _senpai_, as he was to Yamato - would materialize any minute to poke fun at him.

Naruto turned his mind back to nothing (with an occasional interruption from a vision of a bowl of ramen). He forgot to keep up, slipping further and further behind Sakura and Yamato.

As if on cue, the last person he associated with peace crashed the calm in his mind. _Sasuke_. His brow puckered and his lips drew thin.

Even after years, his rogue teammate still left wounds in his wake. Naruto and Sakura grieved almost as if Sasuke had died. In a twisted way, his absence was worse than death. Death would have taken Sasuke against his will - but Sasuke had _chosen_ to break his bonds of friendship and leave them and their village. His village.

Brooding further, Naruto grew upset and frustrated, as if the recent mission had been a disaster. No amount of success could make up with his failure to bring Sasuke back. Yukimaru finding a home in Guren's heart made Naruto's own heart ache, because he wanted so badly to be that home, or at least that magnet to home, for Sasuke. Nothing would satisfy him, not even the title of Hokage, until he convinced Sasuke to fight by his side for Konoha again.

If only Naruto could convince Sasuke that his quest for revenge will only deepen his wounds. If only Sasuke would agree that the Akatsuki as a whole, and not just his rogue elder brother Itachi, were a threat to eliminate.

_He can wake up his Sharingan, why can't I wake up his bond again_? Naruto pondered. _Good morning, Sasuke's almost-good-side. The side that makes Sasuke protect people, even though he scoffs at them. You've had a long nap, now time to get up and steer Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf, straight to Ichiraku's to eat ramen with me!_

He sighed. He'd have to come up with better arguments than that. He didn't have a gift for clever speech, like Sasuke. It was ironic, since Sasuke spoke little and Naruto loved to jabber. Not even Kakashi could get through to Sasuke now.

But Naruto wasn't going to give up on Sasuke, either. As always, he would make up for everything with sheer guts - even if it meant spilling them. In a fit of morbidity, Naruto imagined his innards streaming out behind him, and looked back. His eyes caught a flash of purple streaking between tree trunks.

_Sasuke! It has to be Sasuke!_ he told himself gleefully.

Without another thought, Naruto pivoted on a branch and rocketed straight towards the trees that had blocked his view. They wouldn't block his view for long. Sasuke couldn't hide, not from Uzumaki Naruto!


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto circled round and round the spot in the forest that had gleamed purple for an instant. His heart pounded so hard in his chest, he felt as if it were going to burst forth and turn his jumpsuit from orange to crimson. He was about to holler at the top of his lungs, but then he felt the air shift by his side. A voice whispered, "Quiet, _baka_! We need to talk - without Sakura or Yamato to intervene."

Sasuke's voice had gotten even more arrogant and unamused than Naruto remembered. Naruto hadn't thought that possible! He grinned from ear to ear, turning just in time to spot another flash of purple as Sasuke whizzed away, leading him . . .

"Where?" Naruto whispered hoarsely, pumping his legs in time with his pounding heart to keep pace with the purple blur in front of him. "Where are we going, Sasuke? What are you up to? Not that I'm scared, I know I can take anything!"

"Naruto, kindly shut up!"

"Not a chance, _dattebayo_!"

But then Naruto waxed silent as a faint sound of running water fell on his ears. They hurtled over a stream so quickly, Naruto barely noticed it. Immediately ahead sprawled a jagged rock formation, three times as tall as a man. The layers of rock hunched against each other like plotting giants, thick and sturdy. _But not thick enough to stand a chance against Sakura in a rage_, Naruto thought, smirking. He wouldn't tease about her staggering feats of strength as much, if said feats weren't directed at him more often than not.

One corner of the rock formation was invisible, thanks to a thicket of vines shaped like a strange natural hedge.

"Wow, Sasuke, look! Those are the weirdest plants I've ever seen!" he chattered, waving his arms in excitement.

"Get used to them," said Sasuke quietly. "They'll delay Sakura and Yamato. Provided you don't yell like a _baka_ and beckon them."

"We're going in there?"

"Hn. Obviously."

"Cool! It will be our own fort!" said Naruto happily.

As they ran closer, the details of the leaves jumped out at Naruto - five or six slender prongs on each leaf, with edges of red or orange. When they were almost close enough to jump head - first into the thicket, Naruto slowed, thinking Sasuke would want to crawl along the ground beneath the plants.

Instead, Sasuke seized his hand and dragged him squirming straight through the curtain of leafy vines. The next thing Naruto knew, he was sprawled out on dirt and fallen leaves, spitting bits of green, orange, and red organic material from his mouth.

"Oi, what was that for?!" the blond boy snapped.

Sasuke said nothing, but one corner of his mouth twitched. Naruto sat up, mood turning black. Sasuke had done that on purpose - he still loved throwing Naruto off balance and relishing moments of superiority. _I'll bet Sasuke doesn't plan on talking after all_, he thought. _He's just going to stand there and look down on me, isn't he?_

But Naruto, being Naruto, forgot his dark mood quickly as he admired the domed curtain of leaves all around him. He expected to see a hole in the foliage from their entrance, but there was nothing but leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Naruto blinked in confusion, but decided not to worry about it. _What do weird leaves matter when Sasuke wants to talk! Even if he doesn't talk, it will be good just being able to see him._

For a moment, Naruto just stared at Sasuke, hardly able to believe this was not a waking dream. Or believe that he was still in his right mind. Then he settled both hands behind his head, elbows swaying in the air, and grinned sheepishly.

"Well, Sasuke, I hope you're here to tell me some good news," Naruto said.

He was sure their being in the same section of the same forest at the same time was an accident. For all Naruto's relentless searching, Sasuke never returned the favor. But Naruto hoped that, now Sasuke had to acknowledge his presence for the moment, the bonds of friendship were tugging at his friend in spite of himself.

Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't coming back to Konoha any time soon - but he wouldn't let that get him down. He had won Sasuke's grudging friendship long before the village began to accept him. Now the people of Konoha were growing more and more kind and understanding. If he could warm their hearts, he could win his friend back again. Even if it took a lifetime.

Sasuke held his peace. Naruto waited patiently - for ten whole seconds.

"Well, Sasuke," he said, crossing his arms, "if you won't talk, then I will. I'll tell you all about Konoha. Ichiraku's just the same, as always - "

"I heard you made an impression on one of Orochimaru's most loyal," said Sasuke abruptly.

Naruto completely forgot his train of thought at the sound of Sasuke's voice. His arms fell to his sides. "Eh? What?" he asked, squinting, then opening his eyes wide. Either way, Sasuke's expression was still unreadable to him.

Sasuke looked all around at the leaves, as if searching for words hanging on the edges of red and orange. "Guren," he said. "You made an impression on her. Though, with that blank look on your face, I can't see how."

"Guren?" Naruto squinted again, then his eyes widened in understanding. "No, it wasn't really Guren. It was Yukimaru. They grew close. Very, very close." Somehow, Naruto couldn't look Sasuke in the eye anymore, and shifted to look away, resting his arms and chin on his knees as he sat on the forest floor. "All I did, really, was tell Yukimaru about home being the person or place you could return to, no matter what. For him, home was Guren. And Guren realized that for her, home was Yukimaru, too."

He glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke had turned to stare off into space as well.

"Sasuke," Naruto said softly, turning back towards his friend and rising to his feet. "Do you know what I thought when I told Yukimaru - "

"You should have seen Orochimaru's face," Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto tilted his head to one side, confused. "Eh? I have seen Orochimaru's face, _teme_!" he retorted, pouting a little. "Scariest face in shinobi history!"

"When he found out Guren defied him," Sasuke explained.

"Oh!" Naruto couldn't hold back a giggle. "Did he make a face like this?" he asked, drawing down the corners of his mouth in creepy disgust, and filling his eyes with mad desire for God knows what.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, shaking his head.

"Then you show me what he looked like!" said Naruto, laughing and striding up to stand almost shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Naruto only laughed harder. "Shhh!" Sasuke warned him, poking him in the ribs. Naruto stuck out his tongue and poked him back, but the blond did silence his snickering.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "I'll tell you instead," he said, running a hand through the back of his hair. "He looked like one of his snakes had bitten off and swallowed his foot."

"And then threw it up again in Kabuto's lap?" Naruto finished hopefully.

Sasuke's lips twitched, and he ducked a quick assenting nod. Naruto started fizzling, signalling a peal of violent laughter was on its way. Sasuke clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, glaring at him. Only when Naruto stopped shaking with inner laughter did he release him.

But Naruto wasn't keen on keeping quiet. "What is it like with Orochimaru and Kabuto, anyway?" he asked. He braced himself for a long session of teasing and insisting, since it didn't look like Sasuke wanted to drop too many details about Orochimaru's other hideouts.

"Dark and close and confining," said Sasuke, beginning to pace quietly back and forth. "Everything Konoha is _not_."

Naruto's jaw dropped. Even that terse confession was extraordinary, for Sasuke. Maybe Sasuke would get a little talkative after all. A thousand questions that had festered in Naruto's mind for years whirled through his head, like leaves in the wind. He had no idea which questions to choose. He didn't know if he was ready for any answers Sasuke might grant.


	3. Chapter 3

An unexpected silence lengthened inside the thicket, as Naruto and Sasuke became lost in thought. They each grew still, unconsciously falling back on habits instilled by years of training. Why they suddenly started acting like there were enemies about that begged stalking and killing, Naruto didn't know. Annoyed, he sat and fidgeted near the center of the thicket, while Sasuke stood motionless a few feet away.

Leaves shivered around them in a breeze of unknown origin. Naruto felt right at home, somehow, and for a few seconds, he thought about _not_ pestering Sasuke for more details about his life away from the village.

Then Naruto thought he heard faint echos of Yamato's voice in the distance. He stopped thinking.

"What else did you notice about Orochimaru's hideout?" he asked.

His question hung suspended in the air like the first thread of a spider's web. Sasuke didn't answer, instead staring from leaf to leaf, as if he were too bored to do anything useful.

Naruto tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came to mind. He furrowed his brow in confusion. He had imagined countless scenarios in his head for the meeting they were having right there, right then. He had prepared oh-so-many questions. At one point, Naruto even had a list of keywords he knew would snag Sasuke's attention, and he could have rattled them off like the ingredients in ramen.

But none of that mattered, because Naruto's mind was empty. And his soul felt a little empty as well. He could spew any random nonsense, as he often did, and the result would be the same no matter what. Sasuke would ignore him pointedly. Naruto knew the rogue _nin_ would answer in monosyllables, except when he stretched insults into full sentences.

And then Sasuke would slip away. Again.

Naruto hoped this conclusion would be different. He hoped Sasuke was trying to tell him he was going to amble his way back to the Hidden Leaf somehow. He hoped Sasuke would recollect his honor, make everyone take back every harsh word they'd ever said in connection with the name of Uchiha. Sasuke had been the golden boy of the Hidden Leaf before-he could reclaim that title again.

Naruto knew those hopes had no grounds, but he nurtured them anyway. He was Uzumaki Naruto, after all. He didn't just hope or train for the impossible - he lived for it!

"You really should see Konoha, Sasuke!" Naruto broke forth, grinning widely. _I don't care if he forgets everything I say as soon as I say it!_ he thought. _I'm going to have my say, and more! _

"I know you don't want to go back," he went on, "and you probably won't any time soon. But I tell you, the village is more beautiful than ever!"

A few of the leaves around them in the hedge rustled. _That weird breeze again_, Naruto thought. _Is my wind style acting up or something?_ He grinned in remembrance of the way leaves would tumble soothingly around his village. _Their_ village.

"I detest any and all villages," Sasuke retorted.

"I'll change your mind," said Naruto. "Eventually, I hope!" He grinned once more, then felt annoyed that his smile took on a sad tremor.

"Typical of you, _dobe_."

"Don't you want to know how we've all been, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. He stretched his arms, then flopped down on his stomach nonchalantly. He drew little circles in the dirt with a finger. "Sakura will rival Tsunade for strength any day now. She's also shorter than me. Finally! Pretty, as always, though you've never noticed anyway. Ino still fights with her, except when they're in dire straights. And they're both still crazy about you. Jerk, how do you get people to still care? You don't do a thing to encourage them!"

He shot Sasuke a glare, only to find that Sasuke had turned his back, as if bored, sometime during Naruto's rambling. Snickering to himself, Naruto simply rose to his feet and strode around till he was standing before Sasuke's face. Then he went on as if nothing had happened to interrupt.

"Shikamaru is even lazier than ever," he said. Sasuke turned his back again, so Naruto marched around and flopped back down in the same place he was before. This time Sasuke didn't turn, tired of Naruto's mischief, but studiously ignored him, because Uchiha stubbornness could never be fully frustrated. Naruto grinned and launched back into his monologue.

"Shikamaru's even too lazy to hide his smarts. Everybody knows he's a freaking genius! Chouji is the only person I can always count on going to Ichiraku's with me. Kiba and Akamaru have grown, and keep growing like monsters. They smell like them, too," he said, snickering.

A beetle crawled over his knee, and for a minute Naruto forgot everything as he muttered half-angrily, half-laughingly at it and deposited it on a vine. When he looked back to Sasuke, Sasuke shifted away. But Naruto knew he still had Sasuke's attention.

"Hinata is still shy and hard to understand," he added, "but she's getting strong, too. Maybe if Kiba would shut up for once about stealing the Hokage's hat from me, she'd talk more.

"Lee is still Lee; it's a miracle he hasn't died fifty billion times. Tenten's arsenal is so huge now, she's really starting to scare me. Good thing she's not Sakura's rival, or they'd have ruined half of Konoha by now.

"Neji still can't lighten up to save his life. But he's crazy strong, and kinder now, too. You could take some manners lessons from him, Sasuke! I'd even take them with you!"

Here Sasuke almost snorted. He turned to look directly at Naruto, black eyes boring their scorn into Naruto's own corneas. Naruto waggled his eyebrows at him, taking his friend's reaction as proof he was right in thinking Sasuke was amused, and that his friend would die before admitting it.

"Sai is still mostly clueless about life," Naruto said, crawling to the edge of the leafy dome and leaning his back against the mass of vines. He crossed his arms comfortably. "But I don't hate him anymore. Still wish he hadn't had to take your place. I blame you, not him! Kakashi-_sensei_ only looks away from his books when Gai threatens to hide them in the belly of an alligator. And I think I'm forgetting somebody, but I don't know who . . ."

He jerked out of his own musings when he saw Sasuke's eyes misting over with faraway thoughts. Then Naruto felt a chill, similar to the one he felt when the mist rolled in to complicate their encounter with Zabuza.

"Sasuke," said Naruto, his fists slowly clenching before he could stop them. "Did you _have_ to accept Orochimaru's teaching? Do you still have to answer to him?"

"Yes, of course," said Sasuke, tone brisk and irritated, neck snapping aside to ignore Naruto again. But there was a snatch of defiance in his words as well. As if Sasuke deeply resented that Orochimaru had been his best bet to achieving his revenge. Naruto felt a twinge of grim satisfaction.

"I don't know how you can stand him," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head as if he half-expected to find and a kill a nestling snake. There was a story circulating among the Konoha genin, claiming that saying Orochimaru three times fast would turn your shadow into a writhing mass of serpents, with yellow eyes bent on possessing your soul. Naruto went on, "Even his sage markings are creepy. Don't get me started on his snakes."

"Snakes are akin to my own nature now, you know," Sasuke reminded him, staring at Naruto levelly and taking a step toward him. "Just like your toads." His nose crinkled at one side in disgust at the very thought.

"Don't talk about my pals like that!" Naruto snapped. He scrunched up his entire face in disapproval. "Sure, they're slimy and they eat awful junk, but they don't slither and their tongues don't sway and lick like purple whips." He shuddered.

The grim satisfaction returned to Naruto's gut when he saw a faint shudder ghost over Sasuke's frame as well. Or, at least, he thought he did. It was hard to distinguish from the usual annoyed twitch that hinted Sasuke was suppressing something.

Naruto had dismissed the mental image of Sasuke morphing into Orochimaru, but now the horror was back in his vision. It taunted him, superimposing over Sasuke's face. The revulsion in Naruto rose until he couldn't bear to look Sasuke in the eye anymore. The sight of a yellow iris with a slit pupil was summoning a migraine.

He hoped Sasuke wouldn't notice. Sasuke was better at ignoring things than anyone, even Kakashi-_sensei_.

Mercifully, the pain in his temples receded, and Naruto reached out to pluck off a multi-pronged leaf. His legs were growing restless from sticking out in front of him as he sat, so he crossed them, shifting to distance himself a little from Sasuke. He tried to be subtle. It probably didn't work, for he heard Sasuke's voice cut through the tranquility as expertly as his blade. "_Dobe_, what's wrong? Suddenly, you can't even look at me."

"Nothing, Sasuke," the blond boy lied, dropping the leaf casually and turning further away from Sasuke. "I've just gotten used to you being here." As lies often warrant, he tried to come up with more details to convince his listener. "It feels weird and familiar at the same time. You've been away a while, you know? Now I need to used to the idea of you _not_ being here. Before you leave, like usual."

Now Naruto was talking to himself as much as Sasuke. He sighed theatrically and went on, "There's not much chance of you staying, not right now. Not even if I let you beat me up," he added on impulse, shutting one eye and smirking, glancing at his former teammate before a vision of yellow eyes drove his gaze back down to the ground. His former teammate that would always be on his team, even if Sasuke didn't want to be.

Then Naruto realized he had already said he knew Sasuke wasn't coming back, at least once. He was beginning to sound like a textbook from the Academy.

Sasuke was supposed to grunt or snort (if an Uchiha could be said to snort) or otherwise dismiss Naruto's words the idea with a monosyllable. But he didn't.

"You can get used to my leaving when I - " he began.

"No, Sasuke!" Naruto snapped. He was surprised at the vehemence of his anger. He didn't mean to show how much he was affected. But he wasn't good at suppressing things. Suppression was Sasuke's specialty. Chewing on his bottom lip, he snatched up the leaf he had dropped earlier and stared at it.

"You wish me gone?" he heard Sasuke ask.

_Damn, the jerk is getting talkative, but only so he can be a jerk!_ Naruto thought. _That's so Sasuke, I can't stand it._

"No, Sasuke!" Naruto repeated.

Again, silence crept between them and threatened to drive Naruto crazy. His fist closed over the leaf before he knew it, and as he kept his eyes on his fist, he blurted out, "Guess whose face is carved into the rocks now, Sasuke?"

"Guess who doesn't care?" Sasuke muttered.

Naruto snickered. That sounded more like Ino or Kiba than Sasuke. _Somebody is getting petulant!_ he thought. He plucked off a few more oddly-shaped leaves, arranging them in lines, like so many _samurai_ marching before his crossed knees, without realizing it. Since Sasuke didn't want to talk about Tsunade, Naruto began talking about his training.

"I can do so much more cool stuff now than when we were little, you know!" he said, almost jumping up to his feet in his excitement. "I'll bet even you can't pretend that's not interesting!"

He rambled on about the _rasengan_ and his master, only for Sasuke to cough and stop him short the second he drifted to Konoha again. Naruto scrunched up his face, beginning to notice a pattern here, and not just in the leaves he was scattering on the ground.

He glanced at Sasuke, forgetting that he was supposed to keep looking away. But now the image of Orochimaru was gone again. Glaring at Sasuke because he interrupted, and just because he could glare at him, Naruto launched a story about the mission he went on with Ino posing as a noblewoman.

"I thought it was some crazy dream, because there was no way that stuff happens in the real world!" he said, holding on side to ease the stitches developing there from his laughter. "I can't tell you how many times Ino nearly killed me! She's not as strong as Sakura, but she can be even more creative sometimes." Then, feeling very sly, like Kakashi at his best, Naruto switched his focus over to Konoha. "Like the time when we were patrolling through Konoha, racing over the rooftops, and—"

"You tripped and broke your ankle and Sakura fixed it," said Sasuke, his tone more boring that Shino talking about the mating patterns of insects.

_Shino! That's who I forgot!_ Naruto thought. Then he remembered that Sasuke had finished his story for him, and what's more, had made up the ending.

"Hey, jerk, that didn't happen!" he yelped, standing up.

"It should have," said Sasuke, staring at the dome of foliage above his head. His expression was even more unreadable than usual. Naruto guessed Tsunade would kill for a poker face like that.

"If you don't like how my stories go, tell me a few of your own, then," said Naruto, sinking back down to his knees. He fixed his eyes back on the leaves before him, plucking off one after another and adding them to the little organic mural. His hands grew swifter as his feelings became more agitated. "You can't stand any mention of the Leaf. So tell me about the Sound."

Sasuke said nothing, his eyes drifting all around him, except where Naruto sat.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Naruto prompted. He rose to his feet again and strode over to stand before Sasuke. "Don't feel all that chatty? Well, technically, you never are." He folded his arms and pouted at the friend who kept trying to severe their ties. "Why don't you just tell me why you're here? Huh? You never do things unless you have an agenda going on. Tell me, _dattebayo_!"

Sasuke's dark eyes studied him carefully for a moment. Naruto stared right back at him, barely able to stand still with his impatience. Sasuke glanced the foliage around them, lingering on this leaf and that as his brows puckered slightly in concentration. Naruto thought he saw the subtle clench of jaw muscles, but he couldn't be sure. The Uchiha was trying very hard to be as still and lifeless as a ripple-free pool of water.

Abruptly, Sasuke's eyes snapped back to Naruto. "You and Sakura. You're training under the other _two Sannin?"_ he asked.

Naruto blinked, completely caught off guard, as was the usual with Sasuke. "Well, yeah. You've got to know that already, it's no secret," he said. "You should totally ditch Orochimaru for Tsunade, by the way. I know you guys both have the dark-haired, pale-skinned, creature of the night thing going on, but Tsunade would make a much better master, I'm sure. Don't go near Jiraiya, though; you'll try to throttle him before he can even speak three words. And for once, I wouldn't mind that much—"

"I'm going to kill Orochimaru," said Sasuke.

Naruto dropped all lines of thought mid-sentence. His heart skipped a beat, and his mind went so blank, he almost forgot he wanted to become Hokage. He stared at Sasuke as if he'd never seen the other boy in his life before.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto blinked several times, Sasuke's words still reverberating in his ears. Sasuke's face was impassive as the stones in a dry riverbed, but his eyes flashed with danger and mayhem, barely veiled.

"You're going to kill the freaky snake guy? Why didn't you say that in the first place, teme?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"_Tch_!" Sasuke's head snapped to the side with dismissal, the motion so familiar, Naruto saw it coming before it even happened. It was just like their _genin_ days (well, technically, they were still _genin_ now).

"Is that Sasuke-speak for I-couldn't-work-up-the-courage?" Naruto baited him, taking a step closer. Now they were within punching distance.

Sasuke whipped back to face him, and Naruto half-expected _chidori_ to shoot out of his eyes. "I didn't have to tell you at all!" he snapped.

"But you have, and so I'm coming with you!" said Naruto, beaming. "You're not the only one who-"

"No!"

And with that, Sasuke turned heel, like he was ready to head for the trees and make it back to the nearest snake lair by nightfall.

"Dammit, Sasuke! Don't give me that I must-do-this-alone nonsense!" Naruto shouted, not caring if the entire world of _shinobi_ heard him. He could feel the leaves that made up the dome shivering all around him. Maybe it was the wind, maybe it was his words. Maybe it was both. "This isn't your burden to bear in loneliness!" he went on. "You're strong, but this is Orochimaru! His power is even greater than his creepiness! Even Jiraiya couldn't stop him!"

"What makes you think that you, a second Jiraiya, will do any better?" Sasuke asked. He turned back to face Naruto and stepped forward, till he was almost as close as the time he hooked his arm round Naruto's shoulder and threatened his life. At this proximity, the young rogue ninja completely dropped the veil hiding emotions in his eyes. All Naruto could see were those dark eyes, veritable wells of pain and ambition and determination. "The only one who has a chance to get rid of him is me, his pupil."

"Only because he won't harm your body! He still wants it!" Naruto shuddered, blinking and massaging his temples. His mind's eye was showing him a view of Sasuke's eyes changing to bear Orochimaru's purple sage markings again. To glitter with Orochimaru's wicked mockery. He stared at Sasuke's eyes again, willing away the nightmares and gripping his estranged friend by both shoulders.

"Please tell me the thought of him taking you as a vessel scares you! It scares the daylights out of me!" he yelled. His throat choked up before he could add, _If he takes over, you'll be lost to Konoha, to me, forever. I couldn't live with that, Sasuke. I can't bear to lose that bond entirely! I can hardly stand our bond as it is now._

"He will never have me," said Sasuke, jaw muscles and sinews clenching. "I'd die first. But I won't need to. He will be dead soon."

"If you must kill him yourself, let me be near, at least!" Naruto pleaded, hands still on Sasuke's shoulders and tightening their grip. "I won't butt in, not unless you're dying or something."

Sasuke laughed harshly. "_Dobe_!" he barked. "You'd make it worse! He'd go straight for you to punish - " Realizing he was voicing his own fears aloud, Sasuke grimaced in anger and broke away from Naruto.

Naruto's hands fell to his sides, but his face split into a wide grin. Sasuke always turned away when he felt his vulnerabilities surfacing without his consent. That had not changed, and he hoped it never would. There was a fitting poetry to being closest to a person when they were turned away, afraid to acknowledge the emotions stirring within.

_So strange_! Naruto thought. _He isn't afraid of anything - except his feelings!_ Feelings_,_ _dattebayo! Of all things!_

"Sasuke," he said aloud.

Sasuke didn't acknowledge his name. He stared at the ground at his feet, almost as if he couldn't stand to look at the leafy vines all around them anymore. As if the sight of green life was too reminiscent of Konoha.

_"Sasuke_!"

"What?" the Uchiha barked, still keeping his back to Naruto. His shoulders were trembling slightly. "Yamato and Sakura will be here any moment. They're not stupid. Speak quickly."

"Would you let _anybody_ help you with Orochimaru?"

Sasuke shook his head, everything about him resolved and immovable.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you had a deathwish, you jerk," Naruto grumbled, eying the back of Sasuke's head and wondering if he could glue a few leaves to his rival's hair without Sasuke noticing.

"Itachi," said Sasuke. That was all he needed to say to remind Naruto that Sasuke had no intention of dying any time soon.

Naruto glanced back to his little leaf mural in the dirt, and started. He had arranged the leaves in a crude imitation of the layout of Konoha, and he hadn't even been doing it consciously! He wondered if Sasuke would even recognize the similarity.

Then a thought washed over him. "Sasuke," he said slowly, "if you won't let me come with you, why did you tell me? Why tell me _now_?"

Sasuke stiffened, and brooded, and did not turn around. Naruto was heartily sick of staring at Sasuke's back, like his lot in life was to watch Sasuke slip further and further away. He was sure Sasuke couldn't spurn the only bond that his brother hadn't ripped away from him. Not forever, at least.

_"__Sasuke_!" he growled.

Sasuke turned and fixed him with a murderous glare. "Will you _stop_ repeating my name? It's neither prayer nor curse!" he said. "I knew I shouldn't have come here. But I did, because I wanted to make sure I would get credit for my actions. Orochimaru will die, I am certain. But..." He paused to steady his breathing, and take note that Naruto's hearty face had gone rather pale. "But I am not certain if I will live. _You_ will make certain that people know who killed Orochimaru."

Naruto scrunched up his face, thinking very, very hard indeed. "Um . . . but wouldn't Kabuto make a huge fuss if you killed Orochimaru?" he asked. "I think you can count on him to spread your infamy far and wide - "

"_Usuratonkachi_!" Sasuke snarled.

Naruto grinned, glad he could still rile Sasuke up. "Sasuke, are you too cool to admit you just wanted to tell me goodbye?" he asked. His tone sounded a little singsong, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness that made Sasuke's eye twitch.

But it was the earnest look in Naruto's blue eyes that make Sasuke's hand clench. "You want a goodbye, _dobe_?" he asked, tone bored as always, but eyes still aflame. "Well then, Naruto, goodbye!"

He had barely started turning away, when Naruto shouted, "Wait!" He suppressed a sigh, having already predicted Naruto wasn't ready to let him leave yet. Sasuke raised one eyebrow expressively, as if he was hoping Naruto would suddenly lose his voice.

"Naruto," he said, as the blonde fidgeted and glared at him. "It's time for me to go. We don't have anything to talk about. There's nothing you can possibly say to me that I haven't heard you say before."

Naruto grunted, clenching his teeth. There was plenty to say, and most of it about how _difficult_ this jerk rival of his was! He could never say all that he wanted to Sasuke, not in a hundred years. Nor could he repeat the things that mattered to him often enough.

Naruto wanted to tell Sasuke just how much the brat of an Uchiha mattered to him, since Sasuke liked to pretend he mattered to no one. To tell Sasuke how he didn't go a day without thinking about him, and often dreamed of their Team Seven adventures at night. To say that he only felt whole when Sasuke was around, and he sensed that it was the same way for Sasuke.

But he knew Sasuke would leave if he tried.

"Just promise me you'll send me a sign if you survive," Naruto spat out.

"If Itachi dies, then you'll have your sign." Sasuke turned coolly away, graceful as death in the guise of a dancer.

"Dammit, Sasuke, stop turning away from me! You've done that enough!" Naruto said, and before he could stop himself, he reached out and wrenched Sasuke around to face him. A civilian, or a lesser ninja, would have been thrown off his feet. But this was Sasuke, and so Sasuke kept his balance without missing a beat.

"You've got to give me a sign before that," Naruto said. Gone was the teasing, replaced by an earnestness that surprised even Naruto himself. "We both know it could be a while before you're ready to kill your Akatsuki brother. Promise me my sign, or I swear I'll follow you straight to Orochimaru and write orange graffiti all over his lair."

This time Sasuke's eyes and lips twitched in tandem. "You'll agree not to interfere, if I agree to leaving the sign?" he asked, striding over to stand by Naruto's little leaf construction site.

Naruto responded by grinning and brandishing a double thumbs-up.

"Fine, _dobe_," said Sasuke. He reached out and ripped one of the biggest leaves off a vine, then added it as a finishing touch to the center of the design. Naruto was sure Sasuke hadn't recognized Konoha's layout, or else he probably would have tread upon the village depicted in the leaves.

Shooting Naruto a significant look, Sasuke walked back to stand before him again. "Make sure you keep your end of the deal," he said.

"I will. Get lost—er, more lost," Naruto said, knowing Sasuke wouldn't like him telling him what to do, even if it was what Sasuke wanted himself. "I can hear—"

"NARUTO!" Sakura's voice was still quite a ways off, but every single leaf on or beneath the dome trembled appreciatively. "YOU BETTER NOT HAVE DIED OF YOUR OWN STUPIDITY, OR YOU'LL BE SORRY IN THE AFTERLIFE!"

Naruto grinned, and he could almost swear he could see his own expression mirrored in Sasuke's eyes.

"Ah, how she worries about me!" said Naruto, eyes hazing over wistfully.

"With good reason, _dobe._ For the last time, goodbye!" said Sasuke, voice wry enough to impress Kakashi-_sensei._ He nodded at his former teammate curtly, eyes reverting back to being as expressionless as his face.

_Like he's always hiding behind an ANBU mask_, Naruto thought.

As Sasuke turned and sprang away in another blur of purple, Naruto said, "Goodbye, Sasuke. You know this won't be the last time." He clenched his hands at his sides, stifling every instinct, every longing to go tearing after Sasuke.

_Bastard. Why couldn't I have forged a bond with somebody that will always be there for me?_

Feeling like his heart had turned to weighty ashes, Naruto shuffled over to his Konoha in miniature, staring at it mutely. Then he blinked. Something was off. Squinting, he pinpointed a flaw in the center, where a few leaves had shifted out of place. He knelt to fix the problem, only to find a glimmer of something slightly shiny and reddish beneath one of the leaves. He lifted the leaf, and beneath it in the dirt he saw a tiny amphibian, carved out of red jade.

Naruto scooped the token up, grinning like an idiot. _At least this little guy will be there for me!_

He tucked the frog into his pack, then sauntered casually out of the dome of leaves, secretly promising to make a real fort out of it next time he was in that neck of the woods. Now back among the trees, he crossed his arms behind his head and started whining very audibly.

"Sakura-chan. SAKURA-CHAN!" he bellowed. "Where are you? Why does my head hurt? Did Captain Yamato scare me and make me hit my head?"

Even sooner than Naruto expected, Sakura and Captain Yamato soared out from the trees and slammed into the ground a few feet away from him. Their eyes were wide and glassy and reasonably terrifying.

"Naruto! Were you attacked?" Captain Yamato asked. Beads of sweat trickled down his face besides the edges of his faceplate.

"Likely not!" said Sakura, incensed face flushed a few shades darker than her pink hair. She stomped over to stare Naruto down, nose to nose. "I'll be he started daydreaming about ramen and ran into a tree! Have you been asleep this whole time, you moron?"

"_Ne,_ _ne,_ Sakura-chan, if anything, a tree ran into me!" Naruto protested, rubbing his head. "I think I have a lump on my skull . . ."

Sakura stood on tiptoe to inspect his golden crown. "I don't see any lumps," she said innocently. Naruto winced. He knew what was coming.

_SLAM!_

Sakura's fist connected with his head, feeling more like the wrath of a thousand gods than the hand of a skilled healer, and stars promptly danced before Naruto's eyes. They disappeared in a moment, but not before they morphed to look suspiciously like so many _sharingan._

"Oh, look! My mistake! There is a lump!" said Sakura glibly. "Come on, Naruto, let's get you home before anything else decides to smack you upside the head!"

Naruto was up in the trees, jumping from branch to branch, in a heartbeat, lest Sakura drag him by the ear. Sakura followed after him, but one glance behind assured him her anger was spent. She was smiling with relief. He smiled back.

Captain Yamato brought up the rear, muttering to himself about hoping Kakashi would never find out he almost lost the _Jinchuuriki_ of his village to some random tree.

Naruto looked past Sakura to steal one last glance at the domed formation of leafy vines, thankful that neither of the other ninja had noticed it. He wondered if Sasuke might end up returning to it someday as well.

_Not likely_, he thought. _Not unless he wanted to burn it with some crazy fire jutsu. Stupid Uchiha, with their stupid romance with destruction. He better live. He must._

EPILOGUE

Sasuke moved through the forest swiftly, goading himself to return to his master as soon as possible. He had a good excuse for his absence, but he knew no excuse would explain an absence too long. Orochimaru admired his student's craftiness, even encouraged it, and Sasuke got away with more than any other living ninja in the Sound. But not even the favored vessel couldn't push the limits too far.

Not yet, anyway.

Sasuke's fist clenched tighter round the leaf in his hand. The leaf he had taken from some childish mural Naruto had fashioned in the dirt. He had a feeling he knew the significance of the mural, but that didn't concern him. What concerned him was the edges and prongs of the strange leaves themselves. The fiery colors reminded him of his burning hatred, of the hallmark fire abilities of the Uchiha, and of Naruto's yellow hair and orange jumpsuit.

The six prongs of the leaf reminded him that this was the sixth time he had crossed Naruto's path since the day Naruto chased him all over Orochimaru's underground lair. It was only time he'd let Naruto know he was there.

_I shouldn't have talked to him. I shouldn't have left that frog_, he thought. _He's only going to be difficult._

Grunting in anger, he opened his fist and let the crumpled leaf slip between his fingers and flutter away.

THE END

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Author's note:

That's it, folks! Thanks for reading, and special thanks for subscribing! Your patience is appreciated. Not easy to keep up with writing fics when work, family, and original WIP take up so much time.

Please leave feedback! If you could, please me what appeals to you and moves you, or what doesn't work and why. Offer suggestions if anything comes to mind. It helps hone my craft.

P.S. You might want to look up the meaning behind red jade. I thought it was interesting!


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